Friday Food News

Eater writer Bill Addison spent 150 days on the road researching the most newsworthy restaurants in America and compiled the eight key trends he saw. Listed as trend of the year is that Middle Eastern food is emerging in regional splendor with additional trends including, the white plate is disappearing, blood sausage moves to the forefront, fungi in cocktails, buckwheat is big, among others.

Several 1980s dining trends are on the rebound, affecting everything from decor to menu items, writes Hugh Merwin. Chefs are tinkering with flaky quiches, pasta salad and swordfish — popular dishes from nearly 30 years ago — and decorating with bold bright logos which offer a stark contrast to the subdued, vintage decor that’s been used in trendy eateries for the past 10 years.

Pizza- and sweet potato-flavored gels from Clif Bar and Thai chili energy bars from Kind Snacks are among the new savory offerings from energy food manufacturers. The new snacks are a result of two years of product testing, revealing that consumers were tired of sweet bars and gels and wanted an alternative.

The American culinary team, led by Phil Tessier of The French Laundry, took second place at the Bocuse d’Or competition in Lyon, France, this week, coming in higher than sixth for the first time and winning a silver medal. Norway won first place and Sweden was third in the competition, which was created by French chef Paul Bocuse in 1987.

The James Beard Foundation announced this week that Chicago restaurateur Richard Melman is the recipient of their lifetime achievement award this year. The press release notes that the award is typically given to someone in the culinary industry “whose lifetime body of work has had a positive and long-lasting impact on the way we eat, cook, and think about food in America.” Melman is the founder and chairman of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, a restaurant group that owns over 100 restaurants across the country, including Chicago’s Tru and Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak, & Stone Crab. The foundation also announced the recipient of this year’s Humanitarian of the Year Award, chef Michael Nischan. Both men will be honored at a ceremony on May 4 in Chicago.

Award-winning French chefs Dominique Crenn (Atelier Crenn, SF), Daniel Boulud (Daniel, NYC), and Michel Richard (Central Michel Richard, D.C.) are teaming up to release a line of kitchenware. The new line named “The French Chefs” consists of porcelain dinnerware, five-ply cookware, and bake- and serve-ware and comes with tips and recipes from the chefs themselves. The line will debut on March 9 at the International Home and Housewares show in Chicago before being released nationally.

Women are dominating the culinary scene in North Carolina, leading the best restaurants and partnering with other female-led businesses such as pig farms, flour mills and pickling operations. “I want to support women because I feel like we are the underdogs,” said chef Vivian Howard. “I think a lot of us feel that way, so we have some momentum that seems to keep going.”

About 27% of Washington, D.C., diners take pictures of their restaurant meals occasionally, compared to 26% nationally and 35% in Denver and Austin, according to a new Zagat survey. Additionally, 18% of U.S. diners say they sometimes use social media at the table, compared to 31% who do the same in Dallas and San Francisco.

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